Torre makes move in Asian chess tourney

SUBIC, Philippines – GM Eugene Torre dug deep into his vast experience to subdue 11th seed GM Mohammad Al-Modiahki of Qatar to revive his chances and cushion the impact of the stunning loss by GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. on the top board in the 10th and penultimate round of the 2009 Asian Continental individual chess championship at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center here Friday.

Torre, the country’s second highest-rated player but seeded only 15th here with an Elo of 2561, outwitted the higher-rated Al-Modiahki in 50 moves of the Nimzowitsch to climb into a tie for seventh place going into the 11th and final round.

Overall, Torre has 6.5 points on five wins, three draws and two losses.

Torre’s win made up for the heartbreaking setback of Antonio to GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India in 55 moves of the Caro Kann and the draw of GM Wesley So with GM Hou Yifan of China in 50 moves of the French.

The loss, which ended a sensational two-game winning streak, left Antonio in a tie for third place with seven points.

The 47-year-old campaigner from Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, who won 10 of his 11 tournaments in the United States late last year, is now half a point behind Ganguly and GM Zhou Weiqi of China, who humbled GM Chanda Sandipan of India.

Three highly-rated Chinese players also moved in contention for the 10 berths to the World Chess Cup scheduled in Khnaty-Mansiysk, Russia on Nov. 20-Dec. 15.

Yu Yangyi of China shocked top seed GM Krishnan Sasikiran of India, GM Zhou Jianchao of China overpowered GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam and GM Yu Shaoteng crushed GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh to join Antonio with similar scores of seven points.

So and Torre led a group of players still within striking distance with 6.5 points.

Also in the group are GM Parimarjan Negi of India, who outclassed GM Niaz Murshed of Bangladesh in 52 moves of the English opening.

There were other sad tales among the 19-player Filipino contingent.

GM Darwin Laylo, who became the lone Filipino qualifier in the 2007 edition of the biennial event held in Mandaue City, Cebu, blundered away a drawish game and lost to unrated Wan Yunguo of China.

Laylo remained with only five points._GM John Paul Gomez, the highest Filipino scorer in the 38 th World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, and GM Mark Paragua, once the country’s highest-rated player, settled for draws against Indian rivals FM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit and IM Jayaram Aswin, respectively.

The two also have five points.

Also mired at five points and out of the running for a GM result were IMs Richard Bitoon and Rolando Nolte, who succumbed to GMs Li Shilong of China and Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan, respectively._GM Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor and rising star Jan Emmanuel Garcia drew their match and remained with 4.5 points.

In the women’s division, WIM Zhang Xiaowen of China drew with WGM Subbaraman Meenakshi in their top board encounter to boost her title bid .

The Chinese standout needs only a draw in the final round to emerge champion and pocket the US $3,000 top purse.

Meenakshi also improved to 6.5 points._Ding Liren of China obtained a GM result with 5.5 points after nine rounds._Another Chinese, Ju Wenju, got a WGM result with 6.5 points in the distaff side.

Ju rose to 7.0 points following a draw with Indian WGM Eesha Lavade Friday._Chardine Cheradee Camacho has earned a WIM result with five points in the ninth round.

The top three finishers will qualify for the Women’s World Championship 2010.

NCFP executive director Willie Abalos is the tournament director.

Abdulrahim Maddi is the men’s chief arbiter, while Merdad Pahlenvanzadeh is the women’s chief arbiter.